Frederick Ashton- a 20th century poet of dance

Abstract

Frederick Ashton (1904-1988) can be considered as a poet of dance, comparable to Shakespeare in his field for his extraordinary understanding of the human heart. The infinite spectrum of his ballets, with their moods, nuances and musicality reflect his choreographic genius. As Founding Choreographer of the Royal Ballet, Ashton has choreographed over a hundred ballets and produced many masterpieces noted for their elegance, quick footwork, purity in technique, creativity, unique vocabulary, musicality and lyric quality, defining the “English style of ballet”. Inspired by the famous ballerina Anna Pavlova, his first muse, Ashton decided that he must dance, and during his long career, created the “Ashton style” in ballet, with love as the most important theme in his work. The yearning and suffering he experienced, the love he wanted so much to give and to receive was all present in his ballets. He believed that ballet must be a complete work of art and had the ability move within a single work from lyricism to comedy or wit. The diversity of Ashton’s ballets prove a challenge for all dancers and many of his works contribute to the repertoire of the Royal Ballet and companies all over the world. Ashton’s genius is surpassed by none and rivalled by few in the whole of the history of ballet and his heritage should be preserved for future generations as the Mariinsky Ballet preserves Petipa’s, New York City Ballet preserves Balanchine’s and the Royal Danish Ballet preserves Bournonville’s legacy. The aim of this article is to scrutinise his major choreographic accomplishments, as much is to be gained from further exploration of his works which will continue to be a rich source of inspiration for the world of dance.

Keywords

• Poet of dance
• English style of ballet
• choreography
• Royal Ballet
• Frederick Ashton

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